•v,;  •  "•« 


LIFE 

The  Seventeenth  Qrove 

of  the 
Bohemian  Qlub 

1919 


LIFE 

BY 

HARRY  LEON!WILSON 

\~~ — 

MUSIC  BY 

DOMENICO  BRESCIA 


THE    SEVENTEENTH     GROVE     PLAY     OF    THE 

BOHEMIAN    CLUB    OF    SAN    FRANCISCO,    AS 

PERFORMED     BY     ITS     MEMBERS     IN 

THE    BOHEMIAN    GROVE,  SONOMA 

COUNTY,  CALIFORNIA,  ON  THE 

TWENTY-EIGHTH  NIGHT 

OF  JUNE,  NINETEEN 

HUNDRED  AND 

NINETEEN 


SAN  FRANCISCO 

THE  BOHEMIAN  CLUB 
1919 


COPYRIGHT,  1919 
BY  THE  BOHEMIAN  CLUB 


PRESS  OF  THE  H.  S.  CROCKER  CO.,  INC. 
SAN  FRANCISCO 


CAST  OF  CHARACTERS 


THE  SOWER 
OG 
JAD 
TULL 

FIRST  TRIBESMAN 
SECOND  TRIBESMAN 
THIRD  TRIBESMAN 
FOURTH  TRIBESMAN 
FIFTH  TRIBESMAN 
SIXTH  TRIBESMAN 
SEVENTH  TRIBESMAN 
EIGHTH  TRIBESMAN 
NINTH  TRIBESMAN 
TENTH  TRIBESMAN 
ELEVENTH  TRIBESMAN 
TWELFTH  TRIBESMAN 
THE  WOMAN 


SAMUEL  J.  HUME 
HENRY  A.  MELVIN 
DION  HOLM 
WILLIAM  S.  RAINEY 
M.  C.  THRELKELD 
WM.  B.  SANBORN 
W.  A.  BRYANT 
GEORGE  H.  EVANS 
R.  W.  DAVIS 
DEWEY  COFFIN 
W.  A.  SETCHELL 
THEODOR  VOGT 
BUSH  FINNELL 
W.  A.  DOBLE 
H.  B.  JOHNSON,  JR. 
E.  H.  DENICKE 
DAVID  EISENBACH 


Seedsmen,  Flowers,  Fruits,  Women 


VOICES  AND  CHORUS 

INTERLUDE 
A  VOICE  (in  the  Chant  of  Annunciation)  CHARLES  BULOTTI 


FIRST  VOICE 
SECOND  VOICE 
THIRD  VOICE 


F.  N.  ANDERSON 
A.  A.  ARBOGAST 
H.  K.  BAXTER 
E.  BLANCHARD 
R.  A.  BROWN 

C.  F.  BULOTTI 
W.  H.  BLATCHLY 
E.  J.  CARDINALL 
P.  S.  CARLTON 
WM.  CROSS 

W.  W.  DAVIS 
T.  G.  ELLIOTT 

D.  ElSENBACH 

C.  E.  ENGVICK 
C.  J.  EVANS 
R.  E.  FISHER 

G.  H.  FORMAN 

E.  GERSON 
W.  E.  HAGUE 


H.  E.  HARE 
R.  B.  HEATH 
C.  HEROLD 
W.  F.  HOOKE 
W.  H.  HOPKINSON 
OTIS  JOHNSON 
A.  G.  KELLOGG 
EASTON  KENT 
R.  H.  LACHMUND 
A.  F.  LAWTON 

R.  LUNDGREN 

R.  I.  LYNAS 

E.  H.  McCANDLISH 
M.  McCuRRIE 

J.  McEwiNG 
W.  A.  MITCHELL 
P.  J.  MOHR 

L.  B.  O'BRIEN 

WM.  OLNEY 


R.  H.  LACHMUND 
EASTON  KENT 
E.  J.  CARDINALL 


W.  H.  ORR 
H.  L.  PERRY 

G.  PURLENKY 

A.  L.  PIPER 
C.  A.  RIESER 
E.  W.  ROLAND 
BENJ.  ROMAINE 

J.  D.  RUGGLES 

A.  W.  SPERRY 

A.  H.  STILL 

B.  M.  STICK 
JOHN  STROUD 
E.  L.  TAYLOR 
A.  W.  THOMAS 

C.  F.  VOLKER 
T.  G.  WHITAKER 
M.  H.  WHITE 
G.  R.  WILLIAMS 
A.  Y.  WOOD 


GROUPS 

SEEDSMEN 
E.  D.  CHIPMAN  R.  D.  HOLABIRD  S.  O.  JOHNSON 

J.  R.  GWYNN  R.  M.  HOTALING  B.  G.  McDoUGALL 

E.  D.  SHORTLIDGE  OTTO  WESTERFELD 


R.  I.  BENTLEY,  JR. 
C.  T.  BERINGER 
J.  BLACK 
C.  BORGESON 

E.  CAMERON 

F.  A.  CORBUSIER 


FLOWERS 
R.  F.  COYLE 

E.  CULLINAN 

H.  A.  W.  DINNING 
A.  R.  FENNIMORE 
P.  K.  FUNKE 
W.  C.  HAYS 


G.  HOTALING 
B.  MARSH 
J.  F.  SHEEHY 
R.  J.  SOMERS 
J.  A.  THOMPSON 

W.   G.  VOLKMANN 


R.  I.  BENTLEY,  JR. 
C.  T.  BERINGER 
J.  BLACK 

C.  BORGESON 

E.  CAMERON 

F.  W.  CAREY 

F.  A.  CORBUSIER 
R.  F.  COYLE 


FRUITS 

F.  B.  ELKINS 
J.  F.  ENGLISH 
P.  K.  FUNKE 
J.  R.  GWYNN 
W.  C.  HAYS 

G.  HOTALING 
I.  S.  LILLICK 
B.  F.  LUM 


R.  L.  WHITE 


B.  MARSH 

H.  H.  MILLER 
W.  H.  ROBINSON 
J.  F.  SHEEHY 
J.  R.  SLOAN 

C.  TAYLOR 
H.  H.  TAYLOR 
J.  A.  THOMPSON 

J.  A.  YOUNG 


STAGE  DIRECTOR 
MASTER  OF  LIGHTING 


FRANK  L.  MATHIEU 
EDWARD  J.  DUFFEY 


Ensembles  of  the  Prelude,  Interlude,  and  Finale 
devised  and  directed  by  HARRIS  C.  ALLEN 


CONDUCTOR 
CHORUS  MASTER 
CONCERT  MASTER 


DOMENICO  BRESCIA 
EUGENE  BLANCHARD 
ARTHUR  ARGIEWICZ 


LIFE 
PROLOGUE 

A  glade  at  the  foot  of  a  wooded  hill  shrouded  in  dark 
ness.  Music  is  heard,  and  the  figure  of  the  SOWER  is  seen, 
suffused  with  light,  high  on  the  hillside. 

THE  SOWER 
Now  hear  ye,  O  Life!     I  am  the  Sower,  come  to  sow 

more  life. 

I  am  the  constant,  the  timeless. 
One  little  moment  past,  sowed  I  in  the  void — 
I  sowed  star  dust, 

And  from  that  misty  seed,  quick  with  life, 
The  round  earth  shaped  beneath  me ; 
Crag,  valley,  sea,  mountain  and  vale, 
The  new  sphere  swung  to  its  appointed  path. 

\f]ihe  humming  of  a  distant  chorus  is  heard  from  the 
darkness. 

Then  sowed  I  other  seed,  so  urgent 

That  the  dead  earth  pulsed  to  my  tread 

With  vine  and  flower  and  fruit. 

One  little  moment  since  and  all  these  mighty  growths, 

These  purple  pillars,  draped  in  shadowy  green, 

Were  but  seed,  leaving  my  hand. 

Sowed  I  seed  of  milky  fire  mist, 

Ever  more  seed, 

And  life  spawned  upon  itself — 

[7] 


•    « 
*      a   »      *    >i  B    >;«***         -  • 

J*?»*        3*        **«*  •*•*#•'  «s 

Swam,  crawled,  flew,  walked  upright, 
Then  spoke! 

VOICES  (singing) 

Life  spoke  its  fearful  wonder  in  itself. 
Life  come  to  its  first  dim  knowledge  of  life; 
Finding  it  so  good  that  it  would  rest  upon  itself. 
Now  in  this  star-born  glade  it  would  rest  evermore, 
Dreaming  its  last  victory  be  won. 

But  Thou,  the  Sower,  timeless  and  constant, 

Now  bring  'st  new  seed  to  sow. 

New  seeds  of  life  unending,  building  ever  upon  itself. 

Thou  art  the  never-ending,  all-wanting,  all-begetting; 

Thou  the  timeless,  the  constant, — so  old — so  young. 


THE  SOWER 

Oh,  I  am  old,  yet  ageless. 

Old  as  all  time,  young  as  this  speeding  instant, 

I,  the  unceasing  sower. 

From  this  unbeginning  ferment  of  star  dust 

I  have  conjured  seed,  bud,  blossom, 

Then  the  ripened  fruit. 

And  to  what  end  the  labor, 

The  endless  tortured  cycle  ? 

I  know  not.     Even  I,  the  Sower,  know  not; 

Save  this:    That  from  all  agony  and  travail, 

From  that  heaped  hand  of  star  dust 

I  spilled  in  the  great  void, 

I  have  brought  Man. 

Man  I  hold  as  my  reward! 

[8] 


A  VOICE  (from  the  darkness) 

Poor  little  Man ! 

So  vast  a  fruit,  so  splendid, 

Yet  so  fearful  of  all  beyond  him ! 

So  glorious  a  coward; 

Poor  little  Man! 

OTHER  VOICES 

Now  Man  will  worship  and  fear  Thee,  the  Sower, 
As  one  beyond,  who  must  know  the  secret. 
Yet  even  Thou  must  worship  one  still  beyond 
Who  will  know  the  secret,  the  secret  hid  from  Thee. 

THE  SOWER 

From  star  dust  to  earth, 

From  earth  to  Man, 

From  Man  to  what  shining  consummation  ? 

I  know  not — even  I — 

Save  this:  that  I  must  ever  sow, 

And  Man  must  ever  dare  new  pain. 

I,  the  timeless  one,  the  constant, 

All-wanting,  all-begetting, 

I  am  worshipped  as  Creator, 

Yet  know  I  only  that  I,  myself,  am  creature, 

Even  as  Man;  know  only  that  our  common  fate  is- 

wanting. 

I,  too,  would  rest  in  still  delight, 
Here  in  this  star-born  glade, 
But  may  not,  from  the  goad 
Of  still  another  sower, 
Beyond,  invisible  to  me! 

[9] 


One  law  have  I  found,  one  law  alone 

In  all  time's  outflung  maze: 

Man  must  want  and  ever  want. 

Even  as  I,  the  Sower,  must  he  become, 

All-wanting,  all-begetting. 

Now  must  he  ache  with  discontent, 

Even  as  that  first  eager  star  dust 

That  would  have  no  rest  till  it  had  wrought 

This  earth  to  rounded  beauty. 

Now  must  he  throb  with  starved  desire 

Even  as  throbbed  the  tiny  seeds 

That  could  not  still  their  pain  till  these  great  trees 

Searched  out  the  stars! 

Lo,  I  call  ye  now,  ye  tireless  sowers! 

Though  it  be  curse,  though  it  be  gift  benign, 

Come  forth,  ye  tireless  sowers, 

Sow  ye  the  seed  of  Man's  divine  desire! 

[  'The  Seedsmen  appear  at  the  top  of  the  trail  below 
the  SOWER.  One  figure  appears  at  first  and, 
from  a  seed-basket,  flings  silver  particles  into  the 
light  which  now  surrounds  him.  Another  ap 
pears  on  the  path  below  and  makes  a  similar 
gesture,  and  so  on  down  the  hilL  As  they  de 
scend  the  hill  the  voices  are  again  heard. 

VOICES  (singing) 

Now  Man  is  come,  finely  fashioned,  joyously  wondering, 

savoring  huge  delights. 
He  would  rest  content  with  stores  drawn  from  his  fruitful 

earth. 
In  sloth  of  fed  desire  he  would  end  the  cycle,  thwart  the 

plan. 

[10] 


And  this  he  may  not  do. 

Nay,  little  Man,  who  would  rest  here, 

Safe  from  wanting,  knowing  not  the  law, 

Knowing  not  life's  fevered  pains  and  efforts, 

Nor  yet  its  exaltations! 

We  sow  you  here  the  quick  imperious  seed  of  discontent. 

You  may  no  longer  rest. 

Your  curse — your  gift — 

Be  endless  wanting,  endless  getting. 

You  would  end  the  cycle,  thwart  the  plan. 

This  you  may  not  do! 

\jThe  chorale  concludes  with  the  Seedsmen  grouped 
upon  the  hillside.  One  of  their  number  steps 
forward  and  scatters  special  seed  down  the  bank 
where  the  Bush  of  Wanting  is  to  grow. 

THE  SOWER 
Now  have  I  sown  the  quick  hot  seed  of  discontent,  the  old 

want,  ever  new. 
Now  have  I  sown  the  seed  of  the  old  urge,  ever  young. 

\ffhe  Bush  of  Wanting  rises  from  the  ferns  of  the 
bank. 

Behold  the  bush  of  wanting!     See  it  rise  from  the 

quickened  earth. 
Its  fruit  is  red  with  lure  of  life; 
Its  fruit  is  hot  with  imperious  desire. 
Little  earth-bred  men,  you  shall  mouth  its  heating  fruit 
And  you  shall  ache  with  all  the  want  of  your  young 

world. 

Oh,  you  shall  thrill  to  the  first  faint  call 
Of  strange  old  pains,  of  strange  old  joys, 
And  find  them  strangely  new. 
Delight  and  terror  you  shall  know 


And  torturing  want  shall  bring  you  Life  in  its  endless 

cycle. 

Come,  little  men,  eat  in  new  fear, 
Little  men,  born  of  earth, 
Little  men  who  have  not  known  woman! 

[f he  fruit  of  the  bush  glows  with  light.  'The  Seeds 
men  slowly  withdraw,  their  hands  outstretched 
toward  the  glowing  bush. 

Even  now  the  fruit  quickens.     The  urge  that  thrilled  the 

very  star  dust  hath  arrogantly  sped  it. 
Come,  little  men  who  have  not  known  woman,  your 

other  self  awaits  you — woman  awaits  you! 
The  endless  cycle  of  torture  and  ecstacy! 
Come,  Life  leaps  to  the  call! 

[THE  SOWER  vanishes. 


EPISODE  I. 

[A  party  of  hunters  assembles  in  the  scene.  They 
are  armed  with  spears,  bows,  clubs.  'The  men 
are  rather  young,  clad  in  skins,  or  rough  stuffs  of 
fibre,  woodsy  looking.  The  chief  only  is  old; 
he  is  fat,  gross,  bearded.  'They  bring  a  couple  of 
deer  and  the  carcass  of  some  huge,  grotesque 
animal.  On  one  side  is  seen  the  mouth  of  the 
tribal  cave.  'The  Tribesmen  deposit  their  arms 
there.  The  slaughtered  game  is  thrown  down 
before  the  mouth  of  the  cave  and  afire  is  lighted. 
Meat  is  cooked.  'They  gather  about  the  fire  and 
eat  hungrily.  While  the  meat  is  cooking,  JAD 
starts  up  and  stares  intently  at  something  across 
and  a  little  up  the  hillside.  His  action  is  ob 
served  by  TULL. 

TULL 
What  now  ?     What  do  you  see  ? 

JAD 

Look!   A  strange  bush  has  grown  there  since  we  left  the 
cave  at  dawn. 

TULL 
I  see  no  bush.     How  could  that  be  ? 

JAD 

But  look!    At  the  foot  of  the  bank.     A  strange  new 
bush  and  it  bears  fruit — red  fruit. 

[13] 


TULL 

Yes ;  now  I  see  red  fruit,  and  it  was  not  there  at  dawn, 
nor  did  I  ever  see  that  bush  with  the  long,  pointed  leaves. 
And  it  has  thorns — great  thorns  that  would  stab. 

JAD  ,5'"'.;":  '::  ;' 

Come,  let  us  see  it  close. 

TULL 

Be  slow,  now;  touch  it  gently.  Those  thorns  will  stab ; 
the  very  leaves  are  pointed.  They'll  prick. 

[They  stand  over  the  shrub. 

JAD 

But  that  fruit — the  ripe,  red  fruit;  see  how  it  glistens, 
and  how  it  swells  with  its  own  juice.  It  must  be  sweet  to 
the  taste.  Come,  we'll  eat. 

[He  is  about  to  pluck  one  of  the  fruits;  TULL  stays 
his  arm. 

TULL 

No,  stay!  See  how  the  great  thorns  and  the  pointed 
leaves  protect  it. 

JAD  (laughing) 

I  have  killed  a  tiger.  Am  I  afraid  of  thorns  and  little 
pointed  leaves  ? 

[He  reaches  again  for  the  fruit;  TULL  stays  his  arm 
and  draws  him  back  a  step  from  the  bush. 

TULL 

No,  you  are  not  afraid  of  thorns  and  little  points.  But 
this  is  a  strange  bush.  It  is  not  as  other  bushes  we  know 


that  bear  fruit.  It  grows  in  a  day  and  bears  ripe  fruit. 
The  fruits  we  know  that  are  good  must  have  months  for 
their  ripening.  This  may  not  be  good.  I  remember  a 
shiny,  yellow  fruit  the  tribe  once  ate — how  it  sickened  and 
killed  many.  They  burned  with  a  fever  and  it  killed  them. 
This  fruit  may  be  like  that,  not  meant  for  us  to  eat.  Come 
away ;  it  may  rot  as  quickly  as  it  grew.  Come !  We  know 
enough  fruits  that  do  not  kill ;  we  want  no  more. 

JAD 

But  now  I  do  want  more.  While  I  have  stood  here,  even 
before  I  have  touched  it,  a  want  for  this  fruit  has  come 
upon  me  like  a  little  fever.  Oh,  I  know  it  will  have  a  rich 
taste  in  the  mouth.  I  must  have  it. 

\He  reaches  for  it  but  TULL  again  stays  him. 

TULL 

But  stay  a  little,  then.  Let  us  watch  to  see  if  the  birds 
eat  of  it.  See,  no  bird  has  yet  touched  it.  No!  No  bird 
would  touch  it.  The  fruit  is  ripe  to  bursting,  yet  its  skin 
has  no  scars  from  the  beaks  of  birds.  If  it  were  good  fruit 
the  birds  would  have  come  to  it.  I  do  not  think  it  is  good. 
It  is  beautiful,  but  so  was  the  other  fruit  that  killed.  This 
is  even  fairer;  fairer  than  any  fruit  we  know,  and  ripe  to 
bursting.  I  think  it  must  be  bad.  Yet  we'll  watch ;  if  the 
birds  should  come  to  eat,  then  we'll  know  it  may  be  good, 
— but  all  day  no  bird  has  come.  That's  bad! 

JAD 

Yes,  it  is  a  strange  fruit,  but  it  may  not  be  bad.  I  think 
it  must  be  good.  I  want  it  more  than  any  other  fruit. 
See!  My  hands  creep  toward  it,  though  I  do  not  make 
them;  my  lips  open  for  it,  my  throat  is  dry  for  its  juice. 

[15] 


TULL  (trying  to  draw  JAD  back) 
But  leave  it  now,  and  watch  if  the  birds  come. 

JAD  (resisting) 

Yes,  we'll  watch  if  the  birds  come.  But  I'll  pick  one- 
just  one.  Not  to  eat,  not  to  taste,  but  to  hold  here  in  my 
hand,  (.reaching  for  the  fruit)  We'll  show  it  to  the  rest. 

TULL 

Be  careful!  Careful  of  the  great  thorns!  Careful  of 
those  pointed  leaves!  Death  might  be  in  their  sting. 

JAD  (reaching  into  the  shrub) 

A  thorn  has  scratched  me.  And  the  leaves  have  needle 
points.  One  has  pricked  me  and  brought  a  drop  of  blood, 
but  see,  here  is  a  ripe  fruit,  (holding  it  up)  Oh,  it  is  hot 
in  my  fingers.  I  can  feel  the  slow,  rich  juice  coursing 
inside.  It  must  be  a  good  fruit  sent  to  us  by  the  Above- 
persons.  There  is  another  drop  of  blood  on  my  wrist. 
This  is  a  good  fruit  sent  to  us  by  the  Above-persons  and 
guarded  by  sharp  points  so  that  only  we  may  take  it. 

TULL 

Not  all  fruit  is  sent  to  us  by  the  Above-persons — 
remember  the  shiny  yellow  fruit  that  killed — 

JAD 

But  I  have  a  little  fever  for  this;  my  throat  is  dry  for 
the  juice  of  it.  My  throat  tightens  for  it.  One  little 
taste — this  fruit  has  made  me  want  it. 

TULL 

No,  no!  The  blood  on  your  wrist  comes  again.  That 
thorn  pricked  deep.  Don't  taste  it  yet.  Wait  for  the 

[16] 


birds.  If  the  Above-persons  have  sent  this  fruit  the  birds 
will  come  to  it.  They  eat  the  fruits  we  eat.  Wait  for  the 
birds.  Bring  that  one  carefully  and  show  to  the  rest. 
Here,  let  me  take  it — your  hands  go  to  your  mouth  with 
it. 

[TuLL  takes  the  fruit  from  JAD,  who  follows  him 
across  to  the  fire.  JAD  looks  back  to  the  bush, 
leaving  it  reluctantly.  The  men  are  still  eating 
meat  voraciously.  All  look  up  as  JAD  and  TULL 
approach. 

TULL  (holding  out  the  fruit) 
See,  a  strange  new  fruit! 

JAD 

A  new  fruit  that  makes  me  want  it.  I  held  it  in  my 
hand,  not  tasting  it,  and  my  throat  snarled  for  it.  I  have 
not  known  so  fierce  a  want  even  for  meat  at  the  end  of  a 
long  hunt.  It  is  like  a  new  want. 

[Oc,  who  has  meat  in  each  hand  at  which  he  alter 
nately  gnawsy  rises. 

OG 

What's  this  of  new  wants  ?  We  want  no  new  wants.  A 
fruit,  is  it  ? 

[He  stops  eating  and  eyes  the  fruit  as  TULL  extends  it. 

Well,  fruits  may  be  good,  though  they  are  not  meat  for 
a  man's  teeth.  They  are  poor  things  to  bite.  But  this  is 
a  new  fruit.  I  have  seen  none  like  it  in  all  these  great 
woods.  Is  it  sweet  ? 

JAD  (quickly  taking  the  fruit  from  TULL) 

We  have  not  tasted.    It  is  a  new  fruit.    The  bush  was 

not  there  at  dawn  when  we  left  the  cave.    Now  it  is  full 

[17] 


grown  and  thick-leaved,  with  great  thorns,  and  the  fruit 
hangs  ripe.  Here  in  my  hand  I  feel  its  hot  juice  stir,  I  feel 
it  run  and  burn,  and  all  in  this  ten  hours  it  has  come  to  its 
growth — a  strange  fruit  that  leaves  my  mouth  parched  for 
it.  I  never  wanted  any  other  fruit;  and  this,  even  before 
I  touched  it,  fired  me  with  wanting.  I  felt  a  little  fever 
for  it.  Now  that  I  have  touched  it,  and  its  needle-pointed 
leaves  have  brought  my  blood — now  I  have  a  big  fever  for 
it.  Now  I  ache  with  wanting  to  mouth  it.  The  Above- 
persons  have  sent  it  to  us. 

OG  (who  has  fallen  to  his  meat  again) 
Fruit  is  not  meat — even  fruit  with  a  hot  juice.    Would 
it  stay  in  the  mouth  and  goad  a  man's  teeth  like  this  back- 
fat  of  a  deer?    I'd  rather  have  even  a  strip  of  that  deer's 
belly-fat  than  all  the  pretty  fruit  in  these  woods. 

\He  eats  again. 
JAD 
(still  holding  the  fruit,  fingering  it  curiously) 

I  know!  I'm  a  man  for  meat  myself;  but  this  fruit 
draws  me  to  it.  See  where  its  thorn  scratched  my  flesh 
and  its  needle-pointed  leaves  have  pricked  me.  Little 
wounds,  but  they  have  made  me  glow  with  a  great  fever. 
I  am  hot  to  eat  this  thing  and  I  want  no  meat.  I  want  this 
fruit;  it  is  a  new  want — some  strange  new  want  that 
scratches  in  me.  I  want  this  fruit  and  I  want  more  than 
this  fruit — I  want — I  want — 

OG 

(throwing  down  one  of  the  bones  he  has  gnawed) 

Wants?  Wants?  New  wants?  I  tell  you,  we  want  no 
new  wants.  Our  wants  are  all  met.  We  have  but  two. 
We  want  meat — we  hunt  it.  We  want  sleep — we  take  it. 

[18] 


What  other  wants  could  there  be  in  all  the  world  ?  Another 
want  would  be  evil.  Our  world  is  good  without  wants.  If 
that  fruit  has  made  you  want,  then  it  is  an  evil  fruit. 

TULL  (stepping  forward) 

I  told  him  that.  It  must  be  a  poison  fruit.  Like  that 
shiny  yellow  fruit  our  men  once  ate  that  sickened  them 
and  killed  many  till  they  learned  to  shun  it. 

FIRST  TRIBESMAN  (from  the  fire) 

And  like  that  herb  some  of  us  tasted  in  the  big  rains. 
We  lost  our  good  safe  sense  and  some  of  us  walked  off  a 
high  rock  and  lay  all  broken  at  its  foot.  It  was  an  evil 
herb. 

TULL 

And  this  must  be  an  evil  fruit.  How  could  a  good  fruit 
grow  in  one  day.  The  good  fruits  that  are  sent  by  the 
Above-persons,  we  know  them — they  are  slow  to  grow, 
and  the  birds  eat  them  with  us.  This  fruit  the  birds  have 
shunned. 

JAD 

Still,  it  burns  now  in  my  hand,  its  juice  runs  alive  to  my 
touch.  I  tell  you  it  makes  me  want  strange  new  wants  and 
most  of  all  it  makes  me  want  to  taste,  to  eat  itself.  I 
want — 

OG 

Our  old  wants  are  enough.  We  want  meat;  we  want 
sleep. 

FIRST  TRIBESMAN 

Yes,  it  must  be  like  that  herb  we  tasted  that  made  some 
of  us  walk  and  fall  from  the  high  rock.  It  has  put  a  fever 
on  Jad. 

[19] 


OG 

It's  an  evil  fruit  if  it  makes  him  want  more  than  meat 
and  sleep,  (to  JAD)  Throw  it  away,  (as  JAD  hesitates) 
Throw  it  away — throw  it  from  you. 

JAD 

But  it  holds  me.  My  hand  cannot  throw  it.  My  throat 
tightens  for  it. 

[Raises  fruit  to  his  mouth. 

OG  (horrified) 
Throw  it! 

TULL 
Throw  it! 

[He  seizes  JAD'S  arm  and  tries  to  take  the  fruit  from 
him.  There  is  a  slight  struggle.  TULL  gets  the 
fruit  and  hurls  it  into  the  forest.  The  tribesmen 
have  risen  from  the  ground  to  watch.  JAD  stands 
as  if  dazed,  regarding  his  empty  hand. 

TULL  (to  OG) 

Master,  I  saved  him  from  tasting  that  evil  fruit,  but 
when  our  hands  clenched  we  crushed  it.  The  juice  ran 
between  our  fingers.  It  was  hot  and  living,  as  he  said. 
See,  it  stains  my  hand,  it  burns — it  burns. 

OG  (turning  to  the  fire  for  more  meat) 

We'll  have  no  fruit  that  makes  new  wants.  We  want 
meat,  we  want  sleep.  We  have  them.  How  if  some  fruit 
gave  us  a  want  we  could  not  satisfy  ?  That  would  be  evil. 

TULL 
He  would  have  eaten  of  the  fruit,  and  I  saved  him  from 


it.    But  the  fruit  was  crushed  and  the  juice  burns  on  my 
hand. 

[He  shows  his  hand  to  OG,  continuing  to  explain  this 
to  him. 

JAD  (who  has  withdrawn  a  little) 

The  fruit  is  gone,  but  here  on  my  hand  is  the  wet,  hot 
juice.  It  burns.  And  my  mouth  is  parched  for  one  drop 
of  it.  I  think  one  little  drop  would  satisfy. 

[He  lifts  his  hand  cautiously  to  his  face,  sniffs  at  ity 
then  eagerly  puts  forefinger  and  thumb  to  his 
lips.  He  seems  to  drink. 

There,  I  have  tasted  the  hot  red  juice.    It  is  not  evil; 
it  is  good.    It  is  soft  and  sweet  in  my  throat.    But  I  still 
want.  I  want  more  of  that  hot  fruit.     It  is  not  an  evil 
fruit.    It  is  not  evil  to  want  the  fruit  when  the  fruit  is 
there  to  satisfy  it.  I  shall  eat  of  it;  I  shall  eat  and  eat  of  it. 
[Unobserved  by  the  others  he  crosses  furtively  to  where 
the  strange  bush  grows  and  disappears  just  be 
hind  it.    TULL  has  withdrawn  from  OG  and  the 
others ,  who  have  fallen  again  to  their  meat. 

TULL 

It  is  hot,  that  juice;  it  burns  on  my  hand.  Not  as  a  fire 
burns — it  is  not  like  a  fire  I  would  snatch  my  hand  from. 
It  is  a  soft,  sweet  burn.  And  now  my  mouth  is  parched 
for  one  drop  of  that  juice  still  wet  there.  I  am  afraid  of  it, 
yet  all  athirst.  My  throat  chokes  for  it.  Would  one  drop 
cure  me  of  this  burning  ? 

[Glances  around  and  sees  the  others  busy  with  their 
meat.  He  raises  his  hand  cautiously  to  his  face, 
sniffs  at  it,  seems  to  drink  eagerly  and  then 
lowers  his  hand  quickly. 


There,  my  thirst  is  gone,  and  gone  pleasantly.  It  was 
good,  that  juice.  One  little  drop  to  satisfy  so  great  a  thirst. 
Yes,  it  no  longer  burns  on  my  hand  and  my  thirst  is  gone. 

[He  pauses  and  his  mouth  works. 

Yet,  is  my  thirst  quite  gone?  I  could  drink  another 
drop  of  that  juice,  I  think.  I  have  only  a  little  thirst,  but 
I  want  more  thirst.  That  is  strange.  To  want  more 
thirst.  I  want  more  thirst  and  I  want  more  juice  to 
quench  it.  Perhaps  that  is  the  evil  of  this  fruit,  to  make 
us  want  more  and  more.  But  how  can  that  want  be  evil 
when  there  is  so  much  of  the  fruit  ?  If  I  went  now  and 
took  another  fruit  from  the  bush — or  if  I  searched  for  the 
one  we  crushed  on  our  hands?  No,  no!  I  must  not  do 
that.  It  is  an  evil  fruit  and  I  saved  Jad  from  tasting  it.  I 
would  be  a  fool  to  taste  it  myself.  If  I  went  alone  to  that 
bush  there  would  be  no  one  to  save  me.  I  am  thirsting, 
but  I  will  not  drink.  I  am  afraid.  I  am  afraid  of  too  much 
wanting.  I  will  eat  meat  instead  and  forget  the  other 
wanting. 

[He  approaches  the  fire,  where  a  few  men  still  gnaw  at 
bones.  Others  rest,  half  asleep.  OG,  on  his 
haunches,  is  one  of  the  last  eaters.  He  is  quitting 
regretfully.  TULL  takes  up  a  piece  of  meat  but 
has  not  his  old  appetite  Jor  it.  From  time  to 
time  he  studies  the  hand  that  caught  the  juice  of 
the  strange  fruit.  Occasionally  he  sniffs  at  it. 
He  eats  but  a  few  mouthfuls  of  the  meat  and 
these  without  relish.  Voices  are  heard  singing 
a  Sleep  Song,  a  sort  of  evening  hymn.  'The 
tribesmen's  last  want  has  been  satisfied.  They  go 
slowly  into  the  cave  as  the  song  dies  away.  TULL 
who  has  been  squatting  by  the  fire,  is  the  last  to 
go.  At  the  mouth  of  the  cave  he  pauses,  sniffs 


at  his  hand  and  looks  longingly  over  at  the  strange 
bush. 

TULL 

I  want  more,  but  oh,  I  am  afraid  to  want.  It  is  evil  to 
want. 

[He  goes  quickly  into  the  cave.  The  song,  gently  pro 
longed^  at  last  ends.  The  scene  has  become  dark 
gradually  from  the  time  JAD  disappeared.  Now 
moonlight  floods  it.  JAD  enters  by  the  strange 
bush  where  he  went  off.  He  comes  in  furtively , 
half  crouching,  until  he  sees  that  the  place  is 
empty.  Then  he  straightens  up  and  bites  into 
one  of  the  strange  fruits.  He  eats  meditatively ', 
then  tosses  the  remnant  away. 

JAD 

How  its  juice  runs  hot  in  my  veins!  Again  and  again  I 
have  eaten  and  still  I  am  left  wanting.  What  stuff  is  it 
to  do  that  ?  Evil  perhaps,  as  they  said,  yet  it  has  brought 
me  no  evil.  Unless  to  want  more  and  more  of  it  be  evil. 
But  it  has  brought  me  some  strange  new  life,  and  life  is 
not  evil.  Some  strange  new  life  it  has  brought  me  and  my 
body  is  swollen  with  wanting  more  life.  What  has  it 
brought  me,  this  juice  that  throbs  and  burns?  Now  all 
at  once  it  seems  I  have  become  more  than  myself. 

I  am  Jad,  the  one  that  hunted  yesterday  and  brought 
down  the  deer  with  an  arrow  in  its  flank.  But  it  seems  I 
am  still  another  self;  another  one  of  me  is  round  about — 
I  hear  soft  steps,  little  whisperings,  new  sounds  in  these 
woods.  Og  would  say  I  am  a  fool,  but  I  want  that  other 
self;  want  it  as  never  I  wanted  meat  after  the  longest 
day's  hunt.  The  juice  of  that  fruit  has  made  me  alive 
with  wanting — but  what  do  I  want  ? — not  more  of  the 
fruit.  It  is  a  bigger  want,  a  terrible  want. 


And  I  am  wondering  strange  wonders.  There  is  the 
moon  I  have  seen  so  many  nights  without  wonder — 
knowing  when  it  comes  to  its  full,  and  when  it  dries  to  a 
tiny  shred — and  now  it  has  become  a  golden  mystery,  for 
all  at  once  I  must  know  how  it  comes  there  deep  in  the 
sky.  I  must  know  what  hands  throw  it  over  the  clouds; 
I  must  touch  those  hands,  though  they  be  the  very  hands 
of  the  Above-persons  whom  we  may  not  see. 

And  this  earth  my  feet  are  set  upon.  Now  I  am  cursed 
for  the  first  time  with  wonder  of  its  secret.  How  came  it 
to  be  earth  and  how  came  I  to  tread  it  ?  How  came  my 
fellows  there  that  sleep  away  their  meat?  How  came 
those  seven  stars  to  the  sky's  center? 

Then  this  must  be  the  evil  of  that  fruit,  to  set  me  on  a 
fool's  blind  trail  of  wondering,  of  wanting.  All  things  are 
wonder  to  me  now  and  I  am  but  a  want,  an  endless  ache 
for  more  and  more — of  what  ?  Then  Og  was  right.  It 
has  made  a  fool  of  me,  that  fruit.  To  want  and  not  know 
what  I  want.  Before  I  ate  of  it  I  knew.  I  knew  I  wanted 
meat.  I  knew  I  wanted  sleep.  Now  I  know  only  that  I 
want  to  know.  With  this  dread  urge  in  my  blood  can  I 
ever  want  sleep  again — that  little  death  of  the  night  ?  I 
want  to  know,  I  want  to  see,  I  want  to  feel — what  ?  All — 
now  I  want  all — all! 

Most  of  all  I  want  this  other  self  of  mine;  it  lurks  here, 
it  lurks  there;  it  is  above  me,  all  about.  I  sense  it  here  in 
these  shadows ;  I  hear  soft  footfalls.  I  want,  I  want,  I  must 
have.  A  fool  that  fruit  has  made  me,  but  a  real  fool ;  I  am 
no  shadow,  and  my  want  is  no  shadow  of  a  want— that 
other  self  of  mine;  it  is  warm  and  near  me,  I  all  but  clutch 
it. 

Oh,  other  self  of  mine,  I  cannot  see  you,  yet  I  know  you 
are  here;  I  cannot  see  you,  yet  I  feel  your  warm  Stirling. 
And  the  very  force  of  this  want  in  me  shall  draw  you  to 


me — from  where?  From  these  woodland  shadows,  from 
the  sharp-starred  sky  ?  Are  you  made  like  me,  of  earth,  or 
made  of  moonbeams  ?  I  wonder,  in  this  fierce  longing  of 
wonder.  But  come  you  must.  This  want  in  me  shall  com 
pel  you  from  the  shadows  that  hide  you.  I  want  you — 
I  call  you — 

[He  has  knelt  below  a  bank,  his  arms  aloft  in  sup 
plication.  A  brilliant  ray  of  light  now  reveals 
above  him  a  WOMAN  looking  down  at  him. 

JAD  (awed) 

My  other  self,  you  come!  My  want  has  brought  you. 
Oh,  you  are  beautiful.  Your  hair  has  the  moon's  gold, 
your  brows  are  the  spread  wings  of  an  eagle,  your  eyes  the 
farthest  blue  of  the  sky  between  white  clouds!  You  are 
me,  yet  not  me.  Now  I  wonder  more  than  of  the  moon 
and  my  sleeping  fellows.  And  now  that  dread  juice  burns 
anew  in  me  until  my  flesh  must  burst  with  wanting — I 
want — I  want — 

\He  now  springs  up  as  if  to  clasp  the  WOMAN  but  she 
vanishes.  He  turning  away  from  the  bank  dis 
consolately. 

JAD 

My  other  self  was  melted  back  to  moonbeams  by  the 
heat  of  my  wanting.  Not  of  earth  was  it,  as  I  am,  but 
moonbeams  all.  And  I  have  lost  it.  But  the  want  still 
burns.  It  will  not  be  denied.  Ah!  (in  sudden  fear) 
But  it  may  have  been  an  Above-person  whom  we  are  not 
meant  to  see.  We  know  they  are  here;  we  see  them  in  the 
trees,  in  the  sun,  and  hear  them  in  falling  water,  but  we 
may  not  see  their  bodies.  How  if  that  fruit  has  opened 
my  eyes  to  them.  It  must  be  so.  It  was  not  my  other 
self;  it  was  not  of  earth  as  I  am.  It  was  an  Above-person. 


And  will  it  come  again  ?   Oh,  it  must!   I  call  it— my  want 
calls  it.    Come,  Oh  come!    Ah! 

[The  WOMAN  again  appears  at  the  margin  of  a  pool 
and  JAD  crouches  behind  a  tree  to  watch. 

JAD 

An  Above-person — an  Above-person — brought  by  my 
great  want  from  these  trees  and  the  running  water  and  the 
far  blue  sky.  And  I  must  worship  and  want  here  from 
this  distance  or  my  vision  will  fade  again  to  moonbeams. 
But  no — look! 

\fThe  WOMAN  has  leaned  over  to  regard  herself  in  the 
pool,  she  touches  her  bair  and  rearranges  a 
wreath  of  flowers  on  her  head. 

JAD 

So!  (understanding)  Then  it  is  not  an  Above-person. 
There  is  earth  in  its  making  as  sure  as  I  am  of  earth.  I 
have  leant  above  that  pcol  to  see  my  own  staring  face.  An 
Above-person  would  not  do  that.  Then  it  is  my  other  self 
— not  all  of  moonbeams,  but  being  earth  as  well.  Now 
wait! 

[He  cautiously  makes  his  way  toward  the  pool.  'The 
WOMAN  looks  up  from  the  water,  startled,  then 
reassured  as  she  sees  only  her  own  reflection. 
She  does  not  detect  JAD.  He  crawls  nearer.  'The 
WOMAN  preens  herself  in  the  pool.  JAD  at  last 
comes  to  the  margin  of  the  pool  opposite  to  her. 
She  sees  his  reflection  and  darts  up  the  path.  He 
quickly  intercepts  her  and  clasps  her  in  his  arms. 
'They  struggle  briefly. 

JAD  (laughing  in  triumph) 
Now,  my  other  self — do  you  not  know  me?     (more 


softly)  Let  me  look  at  you.  (forcing  up  her  face)  But 
you  are  all  of  beauty;  all  of  beauty  in  the  earth  and  in  the 
sky.  I  think  you  are  more  beautiful  than  any  Above- 
person.  And  you  are  my  other  self,  called  out  of  these 
shadows  by  the  want  that  burns  in  me.  Earth  and  sky! 
For  you  are  of  the  earth  as  I  am.  This  is  firm  flesh  I  touch. 
Yet  you  have  much  of  the  lightness  of  the  sky  that  I  have 
not.  You  are  mine — my  other  self — come! 

\He  would  draw  her  away  from  the  pool,  but  the 
WOMAN  struggles  again  and  all  but  frees  herself. 
'This  struggle  is  longer •,  fiercer  than  the  first.  JAD 
finally  masters  her  and  her  struggles  cease. 

JAD 

But  this  is  evil.  I  have  bruised  the  tender  flesh  of  my 
other  self.  I  have  done  evil  to  me  from  the  heat  of  that 
wanton  fruit.  Now  I  could  weep  for  that.  See,  my  other 
self!  I  would  not  hold  you  so.  You  are  free  as  a  cloud  in 
the  sky.  Now  go  quickly — back  to  your  whispering 
shadows.  I  am  too  much  of  earth  to  hold  you. 

\He  steps  back  and  then  kneels,  his  head  bowed. 

I  touched  but  the  earth  of  you;  the  sky  I  could  not  gain. 
But  oh,  the  want  that  still  runs  in  my  blood!  Oh,  this 
wonder  of  wanting!  Go  while  you  are  still  a  flower  of  all 
perfumes.  Go  before  my  wild  arms  crush  you.  Go! 

\He  looks  up  after  a  pause.     The  WOMAN  stands 
drooping,  submissive. 

JAD 

But  I  tell  you  go — back  to  your  sky,  your  moon 
beams,  your  sweet  whispering  shadows.  I  am  afraid. 

WOMAN  extends  one  hand  in  the  least  gesture  of 
invitation. 


JAD  (with  a  glad  cry) 
Ah! 

\He  seizes  the  extended  hand  while  still  on  his  knees. 
He  rises  to  his  feet.  'The  WOMAN  droops  to  him. 
With  his  arm  about  her  they  go  slowly  up  the 
lower  hillside  and  disappear  among  the  trees  as 
darkness  falls. 


INTERLUDE 

\ffhe  figure  of  the  SOWER  again  appears •,  suffused 
with  light,  high  on  the  hillside. 

THE  SOWER 

Now  the  sleeping  seed  of  life  has  wakened, 

Now  the  earth-breed  must  want  or  perish. 

So  spin,  little  earth — 

Whirl  in  your  dance  for  a  year, 

While  life  remembers  itself 

In  the  loins  of  the  man  and  the  woman. 

Spin  for  a  year,  little  earth, 

While  blossoms  fade  and  the  fruit  ripens, 

Spin  for  a  year  while  the  earth-breed 

Wonders  and  fears  and  dies. 

VOICES  (singing) 

Now  Man  is  caught  in  the  infinite  mesh ; 
Caught  by  kindling  desire. 

THE  SOWER 

But  he  who  has  dared  will  suffer; 
He  will  joy  and  die, 
And  live  again — live  in  his  own  flesh. 
Spin  for  a  year,  little  earth ! 
You  shall  have  a  new  breed, 
Fashioned  for  brave  wanting — 
All-wanting,  all-begetting, 
Its  end  to  be  endless. 


VOICES  (singing) 

He  who  has  dared  shall  suffer; 

He  shall  joy  and  die  and  live  again! 

A  VOICE  (singing) 

Is  it  a  scourge  ?     Answer,  thou  mighty  one, 
Sower  of  star  dust  shining;  is  it  a  scourge? 

OTHER  VOICES  (singing) 

He  knows  not,  even  He,  the  timeless  one,  the  constant, 
He  knows  not,  even  He! 

A  SECOND  VOICE  (singing) 

Is  it  a  benison  ?    Answer,  thou  mighty  one, 
Sower  of  milky  fire  mist;  is  it  a  benison  ? 

OTHER  VOICES  (singing) 

He  knows  not,  even  He,  the  timeless  one,  the  constant, 
He  knows  not,  even  He! 

A  THIRD  VOICE  (singing) 

Is  it  a  curse  or  gift  divine  ?   Answer,  thou  mighty  one, 
Sower  of  life  unending;  is  it  a  curse  or  gift  divine? 

OTHER  VOICES  (singing) 

He  knows  not,  even  He,  the  timeless  one,  the  constant, 

He  only  knows  that  endless  wanting  is  the  end! 

He  sows  the  seed  as  sow  he  must, 

And  Man  shall  reap,  with  anguished  hands, 

As  reap  he  must. 

Such  is  the  cunning  of  the  plan; 

So  has  it  been  from  unremembered  chaos, 

So  shall  it  be  through  the  ever-widening  spiral 

Of  infinity! 

[30] 


THE  SOWER 

It  is  the  season  of  life's  flowering; 
Once  thrall  to  sloth,  man  has  become 
All-wanting,  all-begetting. 
Life  flowers — buds  and  blossoms 
Into  other  life. 
Let  flowers  attend  the  consummation! 

[FLOWERS  spring  from  the  ferns  upon  the  hillside  and 
descend  the  hillside  with  rhythmical  movements. 

A  VOICE 

Life  buds  and  blossoms  into  other  life! 
Spin,  spin,  spin,  little  earth, 
Whirl  in  your  dance  for  a  year 
While  life  remembers  itself 
In  the  loins  of  the  man  and  the  woman. 
Spin  for  a  year,  little  earth, 
While  blossoms  fade  and  the  fruit  ripens, 
Spin  for  a  year  while  the  earth-breed 
Wonders  and  joys  and  dies! 

[The  FLOWERS  and  the  SOWER  vanish  and  darkness 
falls. 


EPISODE  II 

The  scene  gradually  lightens  to  early  dawn. 

[TuLL  enters  from  the  cave. 

TULL 

A  year  that  evil  fruit  has  left  its  sting  in  my  throat — 
the  sting  of  a  great  wanting.  A  year  have  I  fought  the 
thirst  for  its  juice.  It  burns  still  on  my  hand,  as  if  a  hot 
spear  had  branded  it,  and  the  call  is  always  in  my  throat. 
I  have  fought  the  want  through  long  nights.  It  has  kept 
sleep  from  me;  the  little  death  that  comes  to  us  in  the 
night  has  not  come  to  me.  That  wanting  has  kept  the 
little  death  from  me  that  would  have  made  me  strong  for 
the  day's  hunt.  Yet  I  have  fought  it.  But  have  I  been  a 
coward  for  fighting  it?  Was  not  Jad  braver?  He  was 
seen  to  eat,  then  he  was  seen  no  more.  For  a  year  we  have 
not  seen  him.  Should  I  not  have  been  brave  to  eat  with 
him  ? —  I  might  have  saved  him  from  what  evil  he  went  to. 
Perhaps  I  have  been  a  coward.  This  whole  year  I  have 
not  dared  go  near  the  bush,  lest  the  sight  of  its  fruit  in 
flame  me  as  it  once  did.  Perhaps  I  should  have  been 
brave,  as  Jad  was.  Perhaps  the  fruit  brought  new  wants 
that  he  has  satisfied  away  from  us. 

Now  the  wanting  is  on  me  as  it  was  that  night  a  year 
ago  when  I  drank  one  drop  of  the  juice.  I  will  be  a  coward 
no  longer.  At  least  I  will  look  again  upon  the  fruit.  I 
may  even  touch  its  hot  surface — though  I  may  not  eat. 
Surely  that  would  be  foolish,  for  it  must  be  an  evil  fruit. 
But  I  will  look,  maybe  touch — 


[He  approaches  the  bush  and  stands  above  it,  timidly. 

It  must  be  an  evil  fruit — yet  perhaps  I  am  a  coward. 
At  least  I  may  touch  its  shining  surface. 

[He  reaches  into  the  bush,  then  draws  back. 

A  thorn  has  scratched  me,  a  leaf  has  pricked  me.  There 
is  a  drop  of  blood.  It  burns  me  through.  Am  I  a  coward  ? 
No;  I  will  still  reach  to  touch  one. 

\He  reaches  into  bush  and  draws  back  with  a  fruit 
in  his  hand. 

Ah !  (with  alarm)  It  was  over-ripe  and  fell  into  my  open 
hand  at  the  first  touch.  How  warm  it  is,  and  I  feel  the 
live  juice  coursing  within.  But  it  was  over-ripe — the 
skin  has  broken  and  there  are  drops  of  juice  on  my  hand. 
Again  that  juice  burns  and  makes  me  thirst  for  its  sweet 
ness.  Now  I  am  afraid.  I  am  a  coward,  not  brave  as  Jad 
was,  who  ate  bravely  and  went  away.  I  would  not  be  that 
brave  perhaps ;  only  fools  are  too  brave.  Yet,  if  I  tasted 
but  this  drop  that  runs  like  fire  on  my  hand  ?  Yes,  I  will 
be  brave  as  that;  I  will  taste  this  little  drop,  then  throw  the 
fruit  away. 

\He  puts  the  hand  to  his  mouth. 

But  the  fire  of  it  runs  through  me,  and  the  fire  from  that 
pricking  of  the  leaf  and  that  scratching  of  the  thorn.  Now 
I  must  have  more.  That  drop  was  not  enough.  I  am 
afraid,  but  I  am  brave,  too.  Yes,  I  must  eat.  (biting  into 
the  fruit)  Am  I  a  fool  ?  At  least  I  am  not  a  coward.  I  am 
brave  as  Jad  was ;  I  have  eaten  as  he  was  seen  to.  (eating) 
But  it  is  good,  this  fruit.  It  leaves  a  wondrous  wanting 
in  the  mouth,  a  wondrous  wanting  in  the  whole  body.  Its 
hot  juice  is  sweet  on  the  tongue  and  leaves  me  all-wanting. 
Strange  fruit!  I  no  longer  want  sleep,  our  little  death.  I 

[33] 


want  more  than  sleep — but  what  is  it  I  want  ?  That  juice 
burns  in  me,  a  living  flame.  Is  it  life  I  want — more  life  ? 
Yes,  and  more  than  that.  Each  second  I  feel  the  want 
more  urgently.  It  is  myself  I  want — more  of  myself — 
yet  how  can  I  want  so  foolish  a  thing — how  could  it 
come  to  me?  But  I  want  it.  I  want — I  want — 

[While  TULL  is  speaking  JAD  and  the  WOMAN  enter 
on  the  hillside.  JAD  is  now  dressed  in  lighter 
garments,  something  in  the  fashion  of  the  WOMAN. 
'They  are  garlanded  with  flowers.  JAD'S  arm  is 
about  the  WOMAN.  As  he  first  discovers  them, 
TULL  crouches  to  watch. 

TULL 

Ah!  (with  understanding)  Now  I  see  what  it  is  that 
fruit  has  made  we  want.  -Now  it  is  all  plain.  That  is  the 
more  of  myself  that  my  body  cries  out  for — that  is  the 
answer  to  my  want.  I  have  eaten  a  fruit  of  great  wanting 
and  its  fulfillment  comes  all  in  a  moment.  And  Jad,  the 
brave  one,  Jad  is  bringing  my  want  to  me.  That  is  good 
of  Jad,  but  I,  too,  am  brave,  and  Jad  holds  my  want  under 
his  arm  when  my  own  arm  cries  out  to  enfold  it.  He,  too, 
has  eaten  the  fruit  of  wanting.  But  my  want  is  greater 
than  his;  my  want  is  greater  than  all  the  wanting  of  the 
world.  He  does  not  know  this;  he  will  give  me  my  want 
when  I  tell  him. 

[JAD  and  the  WOMAN  have  come  well  down  the  hill. 
TULL  springs  forward  from  shadow  into  the  light 
to  confront  them.  JAD  steps  forward  to  meet  him; 
the  WOMAN  drops  back  a  little. 

TULL 

Jad!  After  a  whole  year  you  have  come  back.  You 
have  brought  my  want. 

[34] 


JAD 

But  I  have  brought  my  want — not  yours. 

TULL 

Mine!     Mine! — to  meet  this  dread  new  want  the  fruit 
has  put  upon  me. 

[His  eyes  are  on  the  WOMAN  ;  he  ignores  JAD.  As  he 
would  approach  her  with  arms  extended,  JAD 
stays  him. 

JAD 

Not  yours,  I  tell  you.     Mine;  doubly  mine;  my  other 
self  I  found  a  year  ago. 

TULL 

Mine!    You  are  a  fool  not  to  know  this  is  mine.     A 
world  of  wanting  cries  out  in  me.    Let  me  take — 

JAD 

But  mine!    So  much  mine  now  the  whole  world  could 
not  part  us — mine,  my  other  self! 

[They  struggle ',  each  protesting.  The  struggle  grows 
more  intense.  The  WOMAN  watches,  frightened. 
TULL  kills  JAD.  He  throws  the  body  from  him 
and  stands  horrified.  The  WOMAN  approaches 
and  kneels  above  the  body  of  JAD,  her  hand  on  his 
breast.  She  screams  once,  then  leaps  to  her  feet 
and  darts  up  the  trail  into  the  forest.  The 
WOMAN'S  scream  arouses  the  sleepers  in  the  cave, 
who  rush  out,  rubbing  the  sleep  from  their  eyes. 
They  see  the  body  of  JAD,  TULL  standing  over  it, 
and  gather  about.  OG  is  almost  the  last  to  come. 
He  pushes  through  the  group  and  sees  the  body 
of  JAD. 

[35] 


OG  (to  TULL) 

Dead  ?  One  of  us  slain  like  a  deer  ?  And  it's  Jad,  come 
back  after  so  long  a  time.  Has  a  tiger  gone  here  ? 

TULL 

Oh,  how  can  I  tell  it  ?  A  tiger  has  gone  here,  but  I  was 
that  tiger.  This  arm  struck  him  down. 

OG  (puzzled) 

You  struck  him  down?  A  chance  blow?  What  game 
were  you  playing? 

TULL 

It  was  no  game.  I  think  it  was  life,  new  life  that  has 
come  to  trouble  us  here.  It  was  no  chance  blow.  I  struck 
to  kill. 

OG 

How  could  you  wish  to  kill  ?  He  was  your  friend.  Does 
friend  kill  friend  ?  Last  year  you  were  friend  of  his.  You 
took  the  strange  fruit  from  his  hand  when  he  would  have 
eaten. 

TULL 

The  strange  fruit,  the  evil  fruit,  that  made  me  kill  my 
friend.  You  remember?  That  fruit  was  crushed  in  our 
hands  when  I  took  it  from  him.  Its  juice  burned  me.  I 
could  not  sleep.  For  a  year  our  little  death  of  each  night 
has  hardly  come  to  rest  me.  It  was  the  evil  fruit  that  did 
it.  I  drank  one  drop  of  the  juice  that  stayed  on  my  hand — 
then  for  a  year  I  fought  the  want  for  more  of  it.  This 
morning  I  could  fight  the  want  no  longer.  I  came  for 
more.  I  ate  of  the  fruit  and  did  this. 

FIRST  TRIBESMAN 
Then  it  was  evil  like  that  herb  that  made  our  people  run 

[36] 


off  the  high  place  when  they  had  eaten  it.    This  fruit  will 
make  us  kill. 

OG  (to  TULL) 
Was  it  so? 

TULL 

This  fruit,  when  I  ate  more  of  it,  brought  wanting,  a 
horror  of  wanting — I  wanted — I  wanted — 

OG 

You  wanted  more  meat — more  sleep? 

TULL 

I  wanted  more  than  meat,  more  than  sleep.  Meat  and 
sleep  became  all  at  once  such  very  little  wants — I  forgot 
them. 

OG 

What  more  is  there  to  want  but  meat  and  sleep  ?  You 
could  want  more  meat  and  more  sleep,  but  surely  nothing 
else. 

TULL 

I  wanted  more  life.  I  know  it  was  a  strange,  a  foolish 
want,  but  I  wanted  more  life.  I  was  stung  with  wanting 
and  did  not  know  what  it  was  I  wanted  until  I  saw  Jad, 
my  friend.  He  had  it — he  had  what  I  wanted — more  life. 

OG 
More  meat  ?     More  sleep  ? 

TULL 

More  life.  I  have  told  you.  He  had  it  there  within  his 
arm;  another  life;  and  it  was  my  other  life.  I  knew  it  was 
mine,  but  he  was  a  fool;  he  would  have  kept  it  from  me — 
he  said  it  was  his  other  life ;  but  I  was  brave. 

[37] 


OG 

His  other  life,  your  other  life  ?  You  are  the  fool,  crazed 
with  that  evil  fruit. 

TULL 
He  brought  another  person— I  told  him  it  was  mine. 

OG 

Another  person — one  of  us? 

TULL 
Not  one  of  us.   A  person  fair  and  smooth  and  wondrous. 

SECOND  TRIBESMAN 

Crazed  by  the  fruit,  as  our  people  were  when  they  ran 
off  the  high  place. 

TULL 

Another  person  not  of  us,  I  tell  you ;  fair  and  smooth 
and  wondrous  with  a  new  beauty  we  have  never  known,  a 
beauty  to  make  us  want,  to  make  us  long,  to  make  us  kill 
— even  our  friend. 

SECOND  TRIBESMAN 
Crazed — crazed. 

OG  (angrily) 

There  are  no  persons  but  us  and  the  Above-persons 
whom  we  may  not  see.  There  are  no  persons  fair  and 
smooth  and  wondrous,  with  a  beauty  to  make  us  want  and 
kill.  There  is  only  meat  and  sleep  and  us.  There  are  no 
persons — 

[TULL,  looking  upy  sees  the  figure  of  the  WOMAN, 
who  has  lingered  at  the  top  of  the  trail. 

[38] 


TULL 

There,  look! 

turn. 


There!  Now  eat  of  that  hot  fruit  as  I  did  and  you  will 
know  that  new  life  has  come  to  us  —  more  than  meat  and 
sleep.  We  cannot  fight  against  this  new  life.  Again  I  am 
wanting  as  when  I  struck  Jad. 

\¥hree  or  four  other  figures  of  women  are  seen, 
flitting  across  the  upper  trail.  TULL  starts 
quickly  up,  the  women  vanish.  He  stops. 

OG 

Those  must  be  evil  ones.    They  cause  us  to  kill.    We 

shall  kill  them.    Quick  —  go  with  your  arrows,  your  spears. 

[The   SECOND,    SEVENTH,    EIGHTH,    NINTH,   and 

TENTH  TRIBESMEN  take  bows  and  arrows  and 

go  quickly  up  the  hilly  disappearing  where  the 

women  were  last  seen.   TULL  comes  down. 

TULL  (bitterly) 
They  will  find  nothing.    They  have  not  eaten  the  fruit. 

OG 
The  evil  fruit  that  caused  you  to  kill. 

\jTbe  ELEVENTH  and  TWELFTH  TRIBESMEN  carry 
away  the  body  of  JAD.  TULL  would  follow  it. 
OG  keeps  him. 

OG 

See  him  who  has  killed  his  friend;  his  lost  friend  who 
came  back.  He  had  been  lost  for  a  year  and  his  coming 
should  have  made  us  glad.  Yet  Tull  killed  him  as  if  he 
had  been  a  creature  for  meat. 

[39] 


FIRST  TRIBESMAN 
We  should  kill  Tull! 

THIRD  TRIBESMAN 

Kill  Tull  or  he  will  kill  us! 

[They  threaten  TULL. 

TULL 

It  was  the  strange  fruit  made  me  do  it — the  fruit  we 
we  have  seen  for  a  year.  If  I  had  not  eaten  that  fruit  the 
coming  of  Jad  would  have  made  me  happy. 

OG 

I  warned  you.  I  warned  all  of  you  to  shun  this  evil 
fruit.  No  one  should  want  more  than  meat  and  sleep. 

TULL 

There  was  juice  on  my  hand  when  I  took  it  from  Jad. 
It  burned  me  and  I  drank  little  drops  from  my  fingers. 
Then  it  burned  in  my  throat.  All  the  year  it  burned.  I 
could  no  longer  stay  my  hands  from  touching  that  fruit, 
nor  my  lips  from  tasting  it. 

THIRD  TRIBESMAN 

We,  too,  have  wanted  that  fruit.  We  wanted  it  each 
time  we  passed  near  it — yet  we  were  strong;  we  obeyed 
Og- 

TULL 

I  think  you  were  not  strong;  you  were  weak.  You  were 
cowards,  afraid  to  taste.  And  you  had  not  touched  it  as  I 
had,  to  save  a  friend  from  tasting  it.  The  juice  had  not 
burned  your  fingers,  nor  run  hot  on  your  lips. 

[40] 


FOURTH  TRIBESMAN 

We  would  not  have  killed  Jad  even  if  we  had  eaten  that 
fruit.  Jad  was  our  friend. 

FIRST  TRIBESMAN 
We  should  kill  Tull! 

TULL 

I  did  not  want  to  kill  Jad,  but  he  kept  this  other  person 
from  me — the  fair,  smooth,  wondrous  person  that  my 
arms  wanted.  That  fruit  gave  me  a  fierce  want,  like  the 
want  of  a  tiger.  It  made  me  want  more  life.  It  made  me 
kill  Jad.  I  would  have  killed  you  all — all  of  you,  I  say, 
if  you  had  kept  that  other  person  from  me.  The  fruit 
made  me  brave  for  any  killing. 

FIRST  TRIBESMAN 
We  must  kill  Tull. 

TULL 

I  am  brave,  now.  I  would  rather  die  wanting  than  live 
only  for  meat  and  sleep.  I  want  that  Above-person. 

FOURTH  TRIBESMAN 
We  must  kill  that  Above-person. 

OG 

But  first  we  should  kill  the  bush  that  bears  this  evil 
fruit.  Do  you  not  see,  you  fools!  The  bad  wanting 
springs  first  from  that  fruit.  We  shall  kill  the  bush,  then 
we  shall  kill  the  Above-person,  then  perhaps  we  shall  kill 
Tull. 

THIRD  TRIBESMAN 

Og  is  right.  Let  us  kill  the  bush,  then  the  Above-person 
that  brings  evil  among  us — then  perhaps  we  may  kill  Tull. 

[41] 


OG 

If  the  bush  be  killed  and  the  fair  person  be  killed,  then 
it  may  be  Tull  can  live.  It  may  be  this  sickness  will  leave 
him;  it  may  be  he  will  again  want  only  meat  and  sleep. 

TULL 

Who  would  be  a  sleeping  bear  if  he  could  be  tiger  ?  I 
do  not  want  this  sickness  to  leave  me.  For  a  year  it  did 
not  leave  me,  even  though  I  had  drunk  but  one  little  drop 
of  that  juice.  Then  I  was  brave  and  ate  of  it  freely.  Now 
this  sickness  of  wanting  will  never  leave  me.  You  are 
fools  to  talk  so  who  have  not  even  touched  it.  What  do 
you  know  of  wanting  who  have  never  felt  its  richness  ? 
Taste  but  one  little  drop,  then  meat  and  sleep  will  be  your 
smallest  wants.  You  will  want  more  life,  want  more 
wants,  and  you  will  kill  for  them  as  I  did  if  any  would  keep 
you  from  them.  You  will  be  tigers  to  kill.  Friend  will 
kill  friend.  This  fruit  will  bring  wanting  and  wanting  will 
bring  the  Above-person — then  you  will  be  brave  to  kill. 

FIRST  TRIBESMAN  (threateningly) 

Tull  is  still  sick  and  will  kill.  He  will  never  be  well.  We 
should  kill  Tull. 

TULL 

I  would  rather  die  wanting  than  sleep  like  a  bear  with 
his  belly  full  of  meat.  I  would  kill  more  than  Jad  for  that 
Above-person.  Eat  of  that  fruit  if  you  would  know  a  new 
joy  in  killing.  Eat  and  become  tigers  for  killing — I  would 
kill  you  all — 

\¥he   'Tribesmen   advance  threateningly   on   TULL. 
OG  stays  them. 

OG 

This  is  the  talk  of  a  sick  man.    Tull  is  still  sick.    And 


that  fruit  is  our  danger.  How  if  we  all  ate  and  all  sickened  ? 
We  should  all  be  tigers  for  killing.  We  must  first  kill  the 
fruit,  then  the  Above-person  who  comes  to  the  fruit's 
call— 

FIRST  TRIBESMAN 
ThenTull! 

OG 

Then  Tull,  it  may  be — but  not  until  then.  First  the 
fruit  before  it  sickens  others  of  you.  Now  go — uproot  it, 
burn  it.  Kill  it  before  others  of  you  are  sickened  and  say 
foolishly  that  meat  and  sleep  are  not  all  of  life.  Kill  it 
quickly! 

\fthe  FIFTH  and  SIXTH  TRIBESMEN  stay  to  guard 
TULL.  Others  go  to  the  first  bush  from  which 
JAD  and  TULL  ate.  Some  uproot  this  with  their 
spears.  Others  point  to  new  bushes  that  have 
sprung  up  and  go  to  them.  'These  men  discover 
still  other  bushes  and  point  them  out  to  OG,  who 
has  followed  to  watch,  They  work  fiercely.  The 
ELEVENTH  and  TWELFTH  TRIBESMEN  now 
join  them.  Then  one  of  them  has  been  pricked 
by  the  thorns ,  and  another ',  the  FIRST  TRIBES 
MAN,  has  crushed  a  ripe  fruit  in  his  hands.  He 
shows  terror  at  first ',  but  a  moment  later  puts  his 
hand  to  his  lips. 

FIRST  TRIBESMAN 
It  burns! 

TULL  (laughing) 

It  will  never  stop  burning.  It  will  burn  till  you  kill — 
it  will  burn  till  wanting  makes  you  kill. 

[43] 


\fThe  FIRST  TRIBESMAN  runs  up  the  trail  where  the 
WOMAN  was  last  seen.  'The  man  who  was  pricked 
by  a  thorn  of  the  bush  now  seizes  a  ripe  fruity 
bites  into  it  and  he,  tooy  runs  up  the  trail. 

TULL  (tauntingly) 

Now  you  will  all  go  to  find  the  Above-persons — now 
you  will  all  kill — now  you  will  all  be  tigers  as  I  told  you. 
\^A  second  man,  who  has  tasted  the  fruity  runs  up  the 
hilly  then  a  third. 

THIRD  TRIBESMAN  (to  OG,  terrified) 
Master,  see!  We  destroyed  that  bush.   Now  two  bushes 
like  it  have  sprung  up  under  our  hands,  and  their  fruit  is 
already  ripe.    Good  fruit,  it  seems!    Oh,  tempting! 

ELEVENTH  TRIBESMAN 

Master,  I  am  afraid!  It  is  the  same  here.  Two  bushes 
come  when  we  have  killed  one,  and  their  fruit  ripens. 

TWELFTH  TRIBESMAN 

Their  thorns  have  put  fire  in  me.  I  want  as  Tull 
wanted. 

THIRD  TRIBESMAN 

The  juice  burns  on  my  hand  where  I  crushed  a  fruit. 
My  lips  ache  for  it.  I  must — 

[He  tastes  the  fruit  greedily . 

TULL  (tauntingly) 

Now  you  will  all  be  sick  to  kill,  or  the  very  want  will 
killjyou.  You  cowards  who  have  tasted  by  chance — are 
you  not  all  wanting?  Will  meat  and  sleep  now  satisfy 
you?  Are  you  still  drowsy  bears — or  tigers  leaping  to 
kill? 

[44] 


[Several  Tribesmen  speak  from  different  spots  where 
they  have  been  trying  to  kill  the  bushes. 

ELEVENTH  TRIBESMAN 
Meat  and  sleep  are  little  wants.     We  want  more  life! 

TWELFTH  TRIBESMAN 
Tull  was  right.     We  were  bears — now  we  are  tigers! 

THIRD  TRIBESMAN 
Tull  should  not  be  killed  for  wanting. 

ELEVENTH  TRIBESMAN 

We  want  more  life — more  life! 

[The  ELEVENTH  and  TWELFTH  TRIBESMEN  start 
quickly  up  the  trail.  TULL  laughs  mockingly. 
He  would  then  follow  them,  but  is  restrained  by 
his  guards ',  who  have  not  been  near  the  fruit. 

OG  (in  great  alarm) 

An  evil  fruit,  an  evil  fruit — to  make  us  want  more  than 
meat  and  sleep.  This  is  an  evil  sickness  of  wanting. 

\Tbe  THIRD  TRIBESMAN  at  work  is  seen  to  taste  the 
fruit  furtively ',  then  flee  up  the  trail.  TULL 
laughs  again.  OG  calls  the  Tribesmen  back  but 
they  do  not  heed  him. 

OG  (desperately) 

We  cannot  kill  the  bush.  But  we  can  kill  Tull,  then  we 
will  follow  these  sick  ones  and  kill  them  all.  We  must  kill 
the  sick  ones. 

{Cries  of  "  Yes,  kill  Tull  now!"  "  Tull  is  more  sick 
than  any .yj  "Kill  Tull !" 

[45] 


OG 

We  shall  kill  Tull. 

[Oc  approaches  him  with  knife  drawn. 

TULL  (laughing} 

When  you  have  eaten  that  fruit  you  are  not  afraid  to 
die — you  are  only  afraid  of  not  wanting  more  than  meat 
and  sleep.  I  would  rather  die  wanting  than  live  without 
big  wants.  Kill,  old  Bear!  I  am  not  afraid. 

[He  presents  his  breast  to  the  knife.  OG  is  about  to 
strike  when  a  shout  is  heard  from  the  distance. 
The  SECOND  TRIBESMAN  runs  in. 

A  TRIBESMAN 

Master,  we  have  caught  the  fair  person,  the  Above- 
person.  It  came  to  where  the  body  of  Jad  lay  on  the  burn 
ing  pile.  We  have  caught  the  evil  person  who  caused  Tull 
to  kill. 

TULL 
You  shall  not  touch  that  person ! 

[Shouts  are  heard.  The  SEVENTH  and  EIGHTH 
TRIBESMEN  bring  on  the  WOMAN  between  them. 
'They  are  followed  by  the  NINTH  and  TENTH 
TRIBESMEN.  They  bring  the  WOMAN  down  to 
OG.  She  is  a  little  frightened  and  struggles^ 
although  not  frantically.  She  is  perhaps  more 
dismayed  than  frightened. 

SEVENTH  TRIBESMAN 

We  found  the  fair  person  weeping  above  the  body  of 
Jad,  calling  his  name,  fondling  his  dead  face. 

[TuLL  starts  forward  with  a  cry,  but  is  restrained  by 
his  guards.  Those  who  have  been  working  at 

[46] 


the  bushes  come  down.  Cries  of  (as  they  come 
down)  "  Kill  them!"  " Kill  TuH! "  "  Kill  the 
fair  person!" 

OG 

The  bushes  grow  faster  than  we  can  kill  them.  We 
shall  kill  this  Above-person  who  made  Tull  kill  his  friend. 

TULL  (struggling  with  his  guards) 

Taste  the  fruit,  you  fools!  Taste  the  fruit.  Here  is  a 
new  life,  a  new  world  before  you  and  you  are  blind  to  it. 
Taste  the  fruit  and  you  will  know.  Taste  the  fruit  and 
you  will  want  as  I  want. 

FIFTH  TRIBESMAN 
Tull  is  sick  and  would  kill  us. 

SIXTH  TRIBESMAN 
Tull  shall  be  killed. 

OG 

First  we  shall  kill  this  Above-person. 

[He  recovers  his  knife,  which  he  had  dropped  when  the 
WOMAN  was  brought  on.  While  he  is  doing  this 
TULL  breaks  from  his  guards, runs  to  the  WOMAN, 
still  held  by  two  men,  and  kneels  before  her. 

TULL  (to  the  woman) 

O  wondrous  Above-person!  They  do  not  know,  they 
do  not  know!  They  have  not  eaten  of  the  fruit  as  I  ate. 
They  are  cowards  and  blind.  You  are  all  the  world  of 
beauty,  all  the  world  of  wanting,  all  the  world  of  joy.  And 
they  do  not  know.  Only  I  know,  whom  the  red  fruit  made 
alive  to  you.  They  will  kill  you,  then  they  will  kill  me. 
That  is  good.  I  would  not  live  after  they  killed  you.  I 
will  die  wanting.  It  will  be  a  glad  death.  Jad's  death  was 

[47] 


a  glad  death.  I  see  that  now.  Jad,  too,  died  wanting.  It 
is  good  to  die  wanting — better  than  to  live  without  wants 
as  these  blind  creatures  live.  And  soon  they  will  know. 
New  life  has  come  to  us.  The  fruit  of  wanting  cannot  be 
killed.  They  will  eat  and  they  will  know.  You  who  have 
brought  new  life — you  will  understand.  You  will  know 
why  I  killed  Jad,  my  friend;  you  will  know  why  these 
blind  ones  kill  you  and  kill  me.  We  shall  go,  but  the  great 
want  shall  live.  New  life  has  come! 

[TULL'S  guards  drag  him  back  from  before  the  WOMAN. 
She  has  looked  down  at  him  as  he  spoke,  puzzledy 
dismayed,  but  kindly  and  not  frightened.  Nor 
is  she  frightened  when  OG  approaches  her  with 
knife  uplifted.  She  seems  to  know  that  nothing 
can  harm  her. 

OG 
Enough!    We  must  kill  to  save  ourselves. 

\_He  approaches  the  WOMAN  and  the  knife  is  poised 
above  her  to  strike.  Loud  shouts  from  above  and 
down  the  trail  from  those  who  tasted  the  fruit  and 
fled.  Other  women  are  seen  back  of  them.  A 
group  of  four  men  in  the  lead  bear  aloft  the  child 
of  JAD  and  the  WOMAN,  with  glad  shouts.  OG 
drops  his  knife  and  stares  in  bewilderment  as  the 
child  is  brought  down.  The  other  women  in  view 
do  not  come  down  but  linger  at  the  top  of  the 
trail.  TULL  breaks  from  his  guards  and  runs 
forward  to  meet  the  men  with  the  child. 

FIRST  TRIBESMAN 
More  life!    New  life!    Jad!    Jad  has  come  back! 

[48] 


TULL 

Jad! 

[He  looks  closely  at  the  child. 

TULL 

Yes,  it  is  Jad,  made  small.  His  eyes,  his  mouth,  the 
face  of  Jad,  so  small. 

\fThe  WOMAN  runs  to  child  and  takes  it  in  her  arms. 

TULL  (kneeling  before  the  WOMAN) 

The  fruit  of  wanting!  It  took  Jad  from  us,  it  made  me 
kill  him.  Now  it  has  brought  Jad  back.  Jad  has  come 
again  in  his  own  flesh! 

SECOND  TRIBESMAN 
Jad  in  his  own  flesh! 

THIRD  TRIBESMAN 

Jad  lives  again  through  the  Above-person.  We  shall 
not  kill  the  Above-person. 

ALL 
We  shall  not  kill. 

TULL  {pointing  up  the  trail) 

There  are  other  Above-persons.  We  shall  all  live  again ; 
we  shall  become  little  and  grow  large,  and  we  shall  want, 
always  we  shall  want.  We  shall  have  more  life  and  life 
without  end  in  this  fruit  of  wanting.  See,  those  who  have 
eaten  the  fruit  have  found  other  Above-persons — they 
will  live  again  in  little. 

[He  points  up  to  where  some  of  the  men  have  found 
other  women,  tfhe  women>  instead  of  coming 
down,  are  leading  the  men  up  the  trail. 

[49] 


OG 

But  this  is  evil !    We  want  no  new  wants ! 

TULL 

Do  you  still  sleep,  when  Jad  whom  I  slew  has  come 
again?  Here! 

[He  seizes  a  branch  of  one  of  the  bushes  bearing  fruit, 
taking  a  fruit  from  it  forces  it  on  OG,  crush 
ing  it  in  his  hands. 

Now,  drowsy  one,  awaken,  awaken  to  this  new  life  of 
wanting.  Do  you  still  want  but  meat  and  sleep? 

[Oc  sniffs  at  his  hand^  then  tastes  the  juice  of  the  fruit. 
He  looks  about  him  dazed. 

OG 

But  I  want  more;  I  strangely  want  more  than  meat  and 
sleep.  I  am  sick  like  Tull.  Come,  we  want  new  life — 
we  shall  not  kill.  We  want  new  wants.  We  shall  live 
again  in  these  little  men,  and  grow  and  grow! 

[He  starts  up  the  trail  where  those  above  have  found 
other  women.  The  others  follow  him.  TULL 
approaches  the  WOMAN,  and  kneels. 

TULL 

Let  me  take  him,  let  me  take  my  friend  again  in  my 
arms.  Jad  has  come  back.  He  will  come  to  me;  he  will 
know  I  am  his  friend  again. 

\fThe  WOMAN  relinquishes  the  child  to  TULL,  who 
holds  him  aloft  and  starts  up  the  trail.  Those 
who  have  remained  follow  him.  As  they  go  up 
the  trail  and  into  the  forest^  the  figure  of  the 
SOWER  is  revealed.  He  is  unseen  by  those 
ascending  the  trail. 

[50] 


THE  SOWER 

Lo! 

From  seed  to  flower  and  from  flower  to  fruit, 

Now  is  the  time  of  fruiting,  of  new  life  again! 

The  year  has  come  to  its  fullness; 

Swollen  with  the  old  urge,  it  has  burst  with  its  own  riches. 

Little  men,  hear  ye: 

Ye  are  no  longer  thrall  to  fed  wants. 

You  have  braved  the  ruddy  challenge, 

Your  feet  are  on  the  ever-widening  spiral, 

The  golden  fruits  of  wanting  now  attend  you.  Behold! 
[  Voices  are  heard  singing  and  the  hillside  is  thronged 
with  figures  in  glorious  colors  of  harvest,  the  rich 
est  hues  of  purple  and  gold r,  orange  and  red.  Huge 
emblazonries  of  grape-clusters,  of  pumpkins  and 
fruit,  waving  standards  of  corn.  When  the  hill- 
trail  is  filled,  the  humans  gazing  upward  in  rapt 
wonder,  the  dawn  fire  is  lighted. 

VOICES  (singing) 

Life  spoke  its  fearful  wonder  in  itself; 
Life  came  to  its  first  dim  knowledge  of  life; 
Finding  it  so  good  it  would  rest  upon  itself — 
Now  in  this  star-born  glade  it  would  rest  evermore, 
Dreaming  its  last  victory  be  won. 

But  Thou,  the  Sower,  timeless  and  constant, 
Thou  broughtest  new  seed  to  sow ; 
New  seeds  of  life  unending,  building  ever  upon  itself, 
Thou  art  the  never  ending,  all-wanting,  all-begetting; 
Thou  art  the  timeless,  the  constant,  so  old,  so  young! 

FINIS 
[Si] 


SYNOPSIS  OF  THE  MUSIC 

The  incidental  music  of  "Life"  was  conceived  as  an 
illustration  of  the  philosophical  content  of  the  author's 
work.  I  did  not  follow  the  development  of  the  action  step 
by  step,  considered  from  the  dramatic  point  of  view,  but 
embraced  the  full  content,  which  I  used  as  a  source  of 
inspiration  for  my  music. 

The  symphonical  character  of  my  work  indicates  that  it 
must  be  subdivided  into  different  sections  to  be  consid 
ered  as  interludes  which,  introduced  among  dramatic  epi 
sodes,  serve  as  links  thereof.  By  means  of  this  episodic 
treatment,  the  auditor  is  given  moments  of  repose  from 
the  mental  attention  which  the  literary  work  requires, 
and  there  is  simultaneously  created  that  atmosphere  of 
which  the  art  of  sound  is  the  magic  tool. 

In  what  I  have  called  the  Preamble,  I  have  tried  to  con 
dense  the  constitutional  elements  of  my  work,  liberally 
following  the  form  which  it  suggests  and  stepping  aside 
from  the  traditional  form  of  the  Overture  or  Prelude. 

Some  sharp  chords  of  the  cornets  over  a  persisting  and 
continuous  tremolo  of  the  strings  opens  the  piece  (Alle 
gro  Risoluto)y  and  immediately  afterwards  appears  a  rhyth 
mical  fragment  taken  from  the  Dance  of  the  Fruits: 


[S3] 


to  which  follows  a  descending  chromatic  movement  be 
longing  to  the  Dance  of  the  Seeds: 


This  brief  introduction  leads  to  a  lyric  Andante  in  4/4 
time,  the  melodic  content  of  which  expresses  the  calm 
ecstasy  which  love  evokes,  even  in  primitive  and  rude  souls. 

A  characteristic  and  short  rhythmic  movement  that  the 
auditor  will  notice  throughout  all  the  work  is  in  different 
forms : 

• .     fr> 


These  lines  serve  to  depict  the  insistent  and  insatiable 
"all-wanting,  all-begetting"  of  human  nature  to  reach  the 
highest  and  final  aim  of  life — love. 

This  episode  is  braced  up  with  the  repetition  of  the  ini 
tial  movement,  preparing  for  the  concluding  part  of  the 
Preamble.  This  is  a  fugue,  the  theme  of  which,  executed 
by  the  bassoons  and  cellos,  is  as  follows: 


[54] 


One  of  the  motives  of  the  Dance  of  the  Fruits,  is  com 
bined  with  others  belonging  to  the  Dance  of  the  Flowers. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  piece,  over  the  elaborated  pedal 
of  the  theme's  first  movement,  the  love  motive  continues 
four  times  and  always  with  greater  intensity,  interwoven 
with  the  first  motive  and  the  fugue  theme  as  a  dancing 
episode : 


The  Preamble's  general  character,  as  well  as  the  charac 
ter  of  the  other  numbers,  is  rustic  and  the  themes  are  de 
cisively  rhythmic.  They  are  easily  recognized,  even  when 
the  polyphonic  elaboration  appears  somewhat  complicated. 

I  have  chosen  the  fugue  form  for  the  episode  because  its 
structure  is  proper  to  express  the  continuing,  the  for 
warding  and  complicating  of  the  same  events  and  ideas  to 
which  the  author  of  "Life"  refers  with  so  much  insistence 
in  his  text. 

The  Dance  of  the  Seedsmen  is  founded  on  the  following 
ideas: 


[55] 


1.  The  chromatic  and  syncopated  12/8  movement  ex 
presses  the  tremor  of  life  within  the  seed,  and  its  repeti 
tions  between  the  Want  and  Love  themes  emphasize  the 
insistence  of  life  upon  manifesting  itself  in  growth. 

2.  Interwoven  with  the  preceding  is  the  theme  of  the 
Want,  "all  wants,  all  begettings,"  which  is  executed  by 
the  bells  and  other  percussion  instruments. 

3.  The  Love  theme,  which  apparently  seems  to  assume 
greater  importance,  is  combined  with  the  preceding  theme 
of  the  dance. 

The  form  is  free  and  could  be  described  as  a  modern 
Rondo. 

The  Dance  of  the  Flowers  is  a  slow  waltz  movement, 
executed  by  the  strings  in  the  first  part: 


In  the  second  period  of  the  waltz  is  to  be  noticed  the 
persistence  of  the  theme  of  Want,  which  at  the  beginning 
is  executed  on  attuned  cowbells  which  successively  round 
up  amongst  all  the  instruments,  thus  augmenting  the  or 
chestral  interest  and  coloring. 


[56] 


The  following  part  (in  A-flat)  is  built  upon  some  Indian 
moods  of  Ecuador,  which  give  an  exotic  air  to  the  har 
mony.  It  will  be  easy  for  the  auditor  to  recall  the  love 
theme  transformed  and  combined  with  other  rhythmical 
elements  of  the  second  fragment  of  the  fugue  theme  in  the 
Preamble. 


The  waltz,  toward  the  end,  softly  vanishes  in  vague 
dreams. 

The  Dance  of  the  Fruits,  a  short  preparation  on  a  pedal 
played  by  the  basses,  leads  to  the  exposition  of  the  theme 
executed  by  a  full  orchestra. 


This  period  closes  with  the  reproduction  of  the  love 

[57] 


theme  which  undergoes  an  immediate  and  new  transfor 
mation  of  its  original  rhythm. 


A  new  fragment  guides  to  a  repetition  of  the  principal 
theme,  which  closes  the  first  part  of  the  dance. 


The  second  part  (as  a  trio)  opens  with  some  Ecuadorian 
Indian  moods  which  lead  to  the  principal  theme  which  is 
none  other  than  the  first  member  of  the  fugue  in  the  Pre 
amble.  This,  combined  with  the  second  part  of  the  same 
theme,  already  played  in  the  Dance  of  the  Flowers,  is  devel 
oped  and  repeated  in  successive  polyphonic  combinations 
leading  to  repetition  of  all  the  first  part,  which  comes  to  a 
close  with  a  vigorous  coda. 

The  choral  section  of  the  work  must  be  considered  from 
two  different  standpoints: 

i.  The  Sleep  of  Og  and  the  Chant  of  Annunciation  can 
stand  by  themselves  because  of  their  organic  form,  while 
the  choral  fragments,  almost  mystic  in  their  nature,  are  to 
be  considered  almost  as  phonetic  spots,  forming  part  of  the 
atmosphere  in  which  dominates  the  word  and  thought  of 
the  Sower,  "the  constant,  the  timeless." 

[58] 


2.  The  finale  belongs  to  the  same  category,  notwith 
standing  the  fact  that  in  its  rapid  development  it  embraces 
many  of  the  preceding  themes.  This  comment  crowns  the 
triumph  of  the  eternal  law,  love. 

The  Sleep  of  Og  is  a  primitive  man's  slumber-song,  the 
text  of  which  is  enough  to  depict  its  true  significance. 
The  orchestral  commentary  of  this  chorus  is  an  elabora 
tion  of  the  themes  already  heard. 

One  of  the  principal  means  of  expression  lies  in  the  fol 
lowing  phrase: 


(JUhU*       V  | 


which  from  the  choruses  pass  rapidly  to  the  orchestra. 
The  Chant  of  Annunciation  opens  with  these  chords: 


which  are  played  by  the  harp,  sustained  by  an  organ  point 
of  the  basses. 

The  chorus  executes  a  chant  as  a  psalm.  Each  time  the 
phrase  is  sung  it  is  interrupted  by  the  tenor  solo,  which 
repeats  it  with  a  slight  alteration. 

In  this  piece,  the  orchestral  work  is  very  much  developed 
and  the  Want  motive  appears  with  great  insistence  and 
variation,  mingling  with  the  Love  motive  and  the  others. 
The  Ecuadorian  Indian  moods  stand  out  prominently  in 
these  two  numbers. 

[59] 


The  work  is  scored  for  two  flutes,  and  piccolo,  two  oboes 
and  English  horn,  two  clarinets,  two  bassoons  and  double 
bassoon,  four  horns,  three  trumpets,  three  trombones, 
tuba,  harp,  celesta,  glockenspiel,  tympani,  percussion  and 
strings.  A  set  of  cowbells,  embracing  the  chromatic  range 
of  an  octave  and  a  half,  has  been  introduced,  I  believe,  for 
the  first  time  as  a  symphonic  instrument. 

DOMENICO  BRESCIA. 


[60] 


THE  CREMATION   OF  CARE 

By 

CHARLES  CALDWELL  DOBIE 


Music  by 

EDWIN  H.  LEMARE 
Under  the  direction  of  W.  H.  SMITH,  JR. 

THE  VOICE  OF  CARE  DION  HOLM 

THE  HIGH  PRIEST  H.  B.  JOHNSON,  JR. 

SLEEP  FRANK  P.  DEERING 

LAUGHTER  ERNEST  H.  MCCANDLISH 

SONG  HAROLD  K.  BAXTER 

BACCHUS  R.  M.  HOTALING 

ORACULAR  VOICES 

ANTOINE  DE  VALLY  AUSTIN  W.  SPERRY 

CHARLES  BULOTTI  E.  LESLIE  TAYLOR 

EASTON  KENT  M.  G.  JEFFRESS 

E.  J.  CARDINALL  H.  L.  PERRY 

TIME:  The  Mythological  Age 
PLACE:  A  clearing  in  the  forest 


THE   FRIDAY   NIGHT 
ENTERTAINMENT 

JUNE  THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH 

Under  the  Direction  of 
W.  H.  SMITH,  JR. 


t 


52,174? 


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